To Honor You Call Us

Man of War, Book 1

By: H. Paul Honsinger

Narrated by: Ray Chase

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The Terran Union is engaged in a vast interstellar war against the Krag Ruthless aliens intent on exterminating humankind. In 2315, the wily Max Robichaux is given command of the USS Cumberland, a destroyer with state-of-the-art capabilities but a combat record so bad, she’s known as the “Cumberland Gap.” Capt. Robichaux’s first mission: to take his warship to the Free Corridor, where the Krag have secretly been buying strategic materials, and to seize or destroy any ships carrying enemy cargo. Far from the fleet and under enforced radio silence, Max relies only on his determination and guile…and the support and friendship of his chief medical officer, the brilliant Dr. Sahin. Because even as he deals with the ship’s onboard problems and the stress of carrying out her risky assignment, Max and the doctor discover that the Cumberland and her misfit crew are all that stands in the way of a deadly Krag attack that threatens to end the war - and humanity - once and for all. A far-future story in the tradition of “ships of wood, men of iron” novels, To Honor You Call Us and the Man of War series combine the adventure of exploration, the excitement of war, and the dangers of the unknown through the eyes of a ship and her crew.

©2013 H. Paul Honsinger (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Thoroughly enjoyed the story

I'm not one who normally goes for military stories, but after reading the description and the reviews I decided to take a chance. Glad I did. This was an entertaining story from the very beginning. The struggles LCDR Robichaux endures with his crew and vessel are similar to other "overcoming the odds" stories but the author does well to make it unpredictable. While not a huge military buff I enjoyed the references to earth's historical wars and how they related to the war humanity finds itself in. There were plenty of humorous moments that had me laughing aloud as well (references to a certain space faring television show to start) and even though you only "meet" him for the last chapter, Admiral Hornblower was probably my favorite character. Ray Chase was an excellent narrator, bringing life and uniqueness to each of the characters. I particularly liked how each character had his own unique voice, from the very young midshipmen to the gruff and crass Admiral.

The only negative I really had was every now and then the characters would give long expositions on historical wars or explanations of culture, history, procedures, etc that, while important for the story, occasionally dragged on and seemed out of place for the scene. Despite that, I look forward to reading the other stories in this series.

A standard space navy opera given life.

Ray Chase narrates a somewhat standard space navy book and turns it into a masterpiece with a fantastic performance and entertaining range of accents.

Aubrey-Maturin... in spaaaace!

With some work I think Honsinger might turn out to be a decent writer, but this book reads like a seat-of-the-pants pastiche of O'Brian's series. One of the more annoying habits that the author routinely gets into is the straining to explain why his space-borne series is so similar to the Napoleonic era British navy; sometimes the twist might be interesting, but it always comes across as laborious.

The slap-dash science also drew me out of the moment at several points in the story.

#ScienceFiction #Military #Space #Spaceship #Navy #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Awesome Story

I have listened to this story multiple times. I would highly recommend it. Very well done!!

The characters were silly but story intrigued me

Where does To Honor You Call Us rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The characters all seemed to understand everything that might happen at all times, and then would explain their personal genius to the others (and the reader). The constant spoon-feeding mucked up an interesting storyline. Not a favorite book. I enjoyed Steel World (similar genre, different author) much more.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

At one point. The captain trips and falls on the deck- which was fortunate because he noticed a defect in the ship. What an amazing stroke of luck! (Eye roll). When he got back to his cabin to send a message to the engineer-- guess what? The Engineer had already noticed that and was fixing it. Really? Fix that type of "situation" and it improves the book.

What about Ray Chase’s performance did you like?

Great, he nailed the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I liked the story line but not the writing. My reaction was: why. Why, why did you write it this way?

Any additional comments?

Maybe they iron out the kinks on the next installment. Don't think I'm going to give the author a second chance though.

Undervalued

Would you consider the audio edition of To Honor You Call Us to be better than the print version?

Great buy, interesting story, different look at religion in a space faring society.

What did you like best about this story?

The basic premis of the story. I didn't care for the lack of female characters; however, I did understand the rarity of them based on the story plot.

Which character – as performed by Ray Chase – was your favorite?

No particular favorite however the narrator sometimes seamed to have confused characters.

Any additional comments?

.

a 21st century Patrick O'brian.

This man had done his homework. The story and characters mirror captain Jack Aubry and Dr Stephen Maturin in Patrick Obrian's great Royal Navy struggle in the Napoleonville wars. I laughed and laughed. It was like reading Obrian's work for the first time in a science fiction format. If heaven permits Mr Honsinger will spoil us with 21 or more finished novels. The narration by Mr Chase was masterful. wait til you hear his Admiral] portrayal. Enjoy the read. I did very much.
LSP, MD

Detailed Universe With Familiar Characters

If you could sum up To Honor You Call Us in three words, what would they be?

Well thought out.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the details explaining so much behind the universe the story is set in. Why are there no women on board? Why are there midshipmen? This is basically taking the Aubrey - Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian set in space. If you have seen the movie "Master and Commander The Far Side of the World" you will see this honors that series. I love the details of how a new captain has to take a discouraged crew and turn them into an effective fighting team.

Which character – as performed by Ray Chase – was your favorite?

The admiral "Hit em harder". The writing is well done but Ray did a good job on that character.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I cannot listen in one sitting any book this long.

Any additional comments?

I bought and am enjoying the sequel.

Love the series

These books are one of a kind in the military sci-fi genre. The characters are marginally well developed and compelling. The action is top notch. The conflict is between well balanced foes (and there is a back story to explain the conflict). The series ends somewhat suddenly (but I don't think it is a bad ending, unfortunately the author has passed away, so this is likely all we will get). This is easily in my top two favorite series for the genre. Well worth the credits. This story actually turned me into the genre and after reading)listening to dozens of series, I keep coming back to this one. Well done Paul!

Fantastic performance

The book was decent, action packed and good sci fi. The performance made it fantastic, with great voices that showed a lot of humor.